Page 199 of Monsters in Love

I wasn’t the kind of person who went for a run or walk with music in my ears. The sounds of the natural world were what I wanted to listen to. I exhaled, letting the gentle noise of leaves rustling in the wind wash over me, letting my feet find a good pace. Not a run, because I didn’t know this place, but not your average stroll either. I needed to burn off a little of the anxious energy inside me and put some distance between me and the rest of the company.

Why had I agreed to come on this retreat? I mean, aside from the fact it wasn’t really a choice, so much as a strongly advised suggestion. Gemma had hinted that I wasn’t as much of a team player as others in management would like, and so I’d been determined to show them that I could definitely work well in a team.

Yet here I was...

I rolled my shoulders, pushed those thoughts down, and kept moving. The sun had lowered in the sky, sending more shadows through the trees. This path wasn’t the most even, and as I got further in, vines and weeds encroached until it was barely more than a thin line of dirt that probably only deer used. To give myself a little more visibility, I pulled out the headlamp and switched it on. Technically, I should turn back, but I didn’t feel like I was far enough away; I swore I could still hear laughter.

On and on I went. Watching the light dim around me, inhaling the scent of damp undergrowth and the faint tang of salt on the breeze. Each step calming my brain, taking me deeper into the wild, the place I felt the most at home.

The crack of branches somewhere to my left made me freeze, and I whipped my head around. Whatever had made the noise wasn’t visible, maybe too far away to see yet. A chill juddered up my spine.

It felt like someone was watching me. My hand flew to the headlamp, shutting off the light and leaving me in darkness. The reflector strips on my stupid hiking gear caught the light from the moon, and if whatever was out here with me meant malice, they would surely find me.

Shit.

Fuck.

I was such an idiot.

Alone in unknown territory, in the dark. And no one knew where I was...

First rule of hiking, Tamara. Tell someone your plans.I’d been so in my head that it never crossed my mind I might find myself in danger. Not on this remote corporate retreat.

Yet here I was.

Another cracking branch, what sounded like footsteps, but heavy. Dragging. What the hell was out here with me? A low rumble sounded and I didn’t know if that was from the sea, the sky, or the thing in the woods. It took all my willpower to choke back the scream that threatened to escape my lips.

I spun in a half circle and searched the ground for any sign of the path. It was too dark now to see it without the light. I froze, not knowing what to do. Risk the light? Risk breaking my neck?

Another rumble came, but this time it was definitely the sky. Then rain fell in fat, heavy drops that slicked down my skin and soaked through my clothes. I hadn’t thought to bring anything waterproof because it hadn’t looked like it was about to rain when I’d set out.Dammit.Damn my need for space and the temptation of a trail, damn the woods at night, and goddamn whatever was behind me. Or in front of me. I had no freaking clue right now.

But I had to risk it. Risk the light. It might all be in my head, and I’d be doing myself more damage by wandering further off the path. We were so far from civilization that it might take weeks for them to find me, and I could not go without coffee for that long.

I took a deep breath, exhaled, inhaled again, and then hit the button on the headlamp. A circle of bright white hit the ground, illuminating green and brown, but nothing that looked even vaguely path like.

Crap.

More noise; this time it wasn’t thunder. It was like the rattle of bones, or maybe a snake, the scrape of claws? My anxious brain couldn’t decide which it seemed most like, but it conjured all things beastly. I shut off the light and ran. It didn’t matter where; just away from this place, away from that noise.

Away from whatever was chasing me.

The ground was already damp beneath my feet, and I could glimpse slivers of moon through the branches, never enough to show me where I was going, though.

Another roar.

I just wanted to close my eyes and stop, to freeze, to lie down on the ground and hope that this beast would pass me by. But if it were an animal, it would smell me here, the stench of fear sloughing off me in waves.

I didn’t want to die tonight.

This was meant to be a goddamn retreat. What the hell had I been thinking, running off into the woods like that? An attempt to be alone with my thoughts, away from the reminders that I didn’t really fit in wasn’t worth my life.

A gust of cool air hit me from the right and I turned to see a gap in the trees. Dare I head into the open? Or would that only put me more at risk? Even a split second seemed like it was too long to make that decision, so I bolted left, keeping to the cover of the trees. The wind had picked up even here, pushing me on, pushing me away.

My feet slipped on the undergrowth and I fell, hitting my hip against the hard ground, jarring my bones. I scrabbled to stand, but my foot found only air, and I glanced over my shoulder to find that I was dangling over an edge in the ground.

I scrabbled for purchase, reaching around for roots or grass, anything to cling to as the momentum dragged me down. My knee found the lip, and then there was nothing but air and the dank spell of mouldering leaves.

Kavi

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